Submission + - Half Life of a Tech Worker is 15 Years 1
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Matt Heusser writes that when he went to work for Google all the people he met had a sort of early-twenties look to them. "Like the characters in Microserfs, these were “firstees”, young adults in the middle of the first things like life: First job out of college, first house, first child, first mini-van," writes Heusser. "This is what struck me: Where were the old dudes?" and then he realized something very important — you get fifteen years. "That is to say, your half-life as a worker in corporate America is about age thirty-five. Around that time, interviews get tougher. Your obligations make you less open to relocation, the technologies on your resume seem less-current, and your ability find that next gig begins to decrease." By thirty-five, half the folks who started in technology have gone on to something else — perhaps management, consulting, on to roles in “the business” or in operations. "Yet a few stick it out. Half of the half-life is fifty, and, sure, perhaps 25% of the folks who started as line technologists will still be doing that when they turn fifty," adds Heusser. "But by the time you turn thirty-five, you’d better have a plan.""
